A forced abortion may occur when the perpetrator causes

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregnan ...

by force, threat or

coercion Coercion () is compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner by the use of threats, including threats to use force against a party. It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the free will of an individual in order to induce a desi ...

, or by taking advantage of a situation where a pregnant individual is unable to give consent, or when valid consent is in question due to

duress Coercion () is compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner by the use of threats, including threats to use force against a party. It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the free will of an individual in order to induce a desi ...

. This may also include the instances when the conduct was neither justified by medical or hospital treatment. Like forced sterilization, forced abortion may include a physical invasion of female reproductive organs.

People's Republic of China

Forced abortions associated with administration of the

one-child policy The term one-child policy () refers to a population planning initiative in China implemented between 1980 and 2015 to curb the country's population growth by restricting many families to a single child. That initiative was part of a much br ...

have occurred in the People's Republic of China; they are a violation of

Chinese law Chinese law is one of the oldest legal traditions in the world. The core of modern Chinese law is based on Germanic-style civil law, socialist law, and traditional Chinese approaches. For most of the history of China, its legal system h ...

and are not official policy. They result from government pressure on local officials who, in turn, employ strong-arm tactics on pregnant mothers. On September 29, 1997, a bill was introduced in the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...

titled Forced Abortion Condemnation Act, that sought to "condemn those officials of the Chinese Communist Party, the

government of the People's Republic of China The Government of the People's Republic of China () is an authoritarian political system in the People's Republic of China under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It consists of legislative, executive, m ...

and other persons who are involved in the enforcement of forced abortions by preventing such persons from entering or remaining in the United States". In June 2012

Feng Jianmei On June 2, 2012, Feng Jianmei () was forced to have an abortion in Zhenping County, Shaanxi, China, when she was seven months pregnant with her second child. Local officials had demanded that Feng and her husband pay a 40,000 yuan fine for vi ...

was forcibly made to abort her 7 month old fetus after not paying a fine for breaking the one-child policy. Her case was widely discussed on the internet in China to general revulsion after photos of the stillborn baby were posted online. A fortnight after the forced abortion she continued to be harassed by local authorities in

Shanxi Province Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level ...

. On July 5, the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

passed a resolution saying it "strongly condemns" both Feng's case specifically and forced abortions in general "especially in the context of the one-child policy." Part of the work of the activist "

barefoot lawyer A barefoot lawyer (Chinese: 赤脚律师 pinyin: chìjiǎo lǜshī) is a self-taught legal activist in China. Many barefoot lawyers are peasants who have taught themselves enough law to file civil complaints, engage in litigation, and educate fello ...

Chen Guangcheng Chen Guangcheng (born November 12, 1971) is a Chinese civil rights activist who has worked on human rights issues in rural areas of the People's Republic of China. Blind from an early age and self-taught in the law, Chen is frequently describe ...

also concerned excesses of this nature. By 2012, disagreement with forced abortion was being expressed by the public in China despite its reduced use, and repeal of the one-child policy was reportedly being discussed in some quarters for this and other reasons.Forced abortion sparks outrage, debate in China

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by t ...

, June 2012 After the shift to a two-child policy in January 2016, the practice was reported in 2020 to still occur through intimidation of the Uyghur minority in

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

leading to the US government imposing sanctions on officials in response. However, these reported accounts were unable to be verified, with Uyghurs in comparable situations describing facing no abuse.

North Korean refugees repatriated from China

Forced abortions and

infanticide Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose is the prevention of reso ...

are used as a form of punishment in prison camps. The North Korean regime banned pregnancy in its camps in the 1980s. China returns all illegal immigrants from

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

which usually imprisons them in a short-term facility. Many North Korean defectors assert that forced abortions and infanticide are common in these prisons. The majority of the prisoners held in the Chinese detention centers are women. Repatriated North Koreans are subject to forced abortions regardless of perceived crimes. North Korean police's efforts are to prevent North Korean women from having ethnically mixed children with

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive var ...

men. Medical care was not provided to North Korean women who underwent forced abortions.

United Kingdom

On June 21, 2019, the UK

Court of Protection The Court of Protection in English law is a superior court of record created under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. It has jurisdiction over the property, financial affairs and personal welfare of people who lack mental capacity to make decision ...

ordered a disabled woman to have an abortion against her will. The woman had a moderate mood disorder and

learning disability Learning disability, learning disorder, or learning difficulty (British English) is a condition in the brain that causes difficulties comprehending or processing information and can be caused by several different factors. Given the "difficult ...

and under the care of an

NHS trust An NHS trust is an organisational unit within the National Health Services of England and Wales, generally serving either a geographical area or a specialised function (such as an ambulance service). In any particular location there may be several ...

, which argued that she was

mentally incompetent In United States and Canadian law, competence concerns the mental capacity of an individual to participate in legal proceedings or transactions, and the mental condition a person must have to be responsible for his or her decisions or acts. Comp ...

and that having a child would worsen her mental health. Justice Nathalie Lieven subsequently approved the forced abortion under the

Mental Capacity Act 2005 The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (c 9) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom applying to England and Wales. Its primary purpose is to provide a legal framework for acting and making decisions on behalf of adults who lack the capacity ...

despite the wishes of herself and her mother. The decision was criticized by the Catholic Church, the

Disability Rights Commission The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) was established by the British Labour government in 1999. At that time, the DRC was the UK's third equality commission alongside the Commission for Racial Equality and the Equal Opportunities Commission. It ...

, and numerous anti-abortion activist groups such as Life and the

Society for the Protection of Unborn Children Society for the Protection of Unborn Children is an anti-abortion organisation in the United Kingdom which also opposes assisted suicide and abortifacient birth control. History and support SPUC was formed in 1966 amid parliamentary debates ...

. The case was subsequently overturned by the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

United States

Coercing women to not have abortions qualifies as forcing women to not have abortions in the United States. Coercion includes withholding information from the patient, hiding or restricting access to abortion providers, or pressuring a woman to not obtain an abortion.

Laws surrounding forced abortions

In 2016, Governor

Rick Snyder Richard Dale Snyder (born August 19, 1958) is an American business executive, venture capitalist, attorney, accountant, and politician who served as the 48th governor of Michigan from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Snyder previ ...

enacted two bills with the intent to end forced abortions in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. The first bill banned coercing a woman to have an abortion, and the second bill bans coerced abortions. Eighteen states, including the fourteen that have criminalized coerced abortion, have mandated that

abortion clinic Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregnan ...

s and providers offer written and verbal notification advising women against receiving an abortion under coercion.

Forced abortion in sex trafficking

In a series of focus groups conducted around the United States by anti-trafficking activist

Laura Lederer Laura J. Lederer (born 1951) is a pioneer in the work to stop human trafficking. She is a legal scholar and former Senior Advisor on Trafficking in Persons in the Office for Democracy and Global Affairs of the United States Department of State. ...

in 2014, over 25% of survivors of domestic sex trafficking who responded to the question reported that they had been forced to have an abortion.

References

{{Abortion Violence against women